Use This Class To Use Your Vote
Something that Andrew always said that was the goal of the Science 200 course was to be a good consumer of science. This means knowing how to identify what good science and studies look like and differentiating them with what is simply misleading and unsupported hypotheses. Being a good consumer of Science and scientific information is a very important skill and one that will especially become useful when election season comes around.
In fact, one of the course objectives of the course is to learn the societal implications of thinking scientifically, specifically the contemporary utility of science for everyday life, for business and for governance. The majority of our Science 200 class are Underclassmen (especially Freshmen) and many are coming of age where they have the opportunity to participate and vote in their first election which will happen to be a Presidential election. If science will be part of the solution to every problem in the 21st century then it is important that we consume science in a manner in which we know where each candidate stands. Whether it is global warming or just the support and funding of scientific research many candidates have a wide range of views and policies on science.
Many people our age do not choose to participate in voting, our demographic has the lowest voting turnout. For those of us who do choose to vote however it is important we keep conscious that each candidate has their respective stances on issues such as vaccinations, climate change, and funding of education and sciences. For instance, did you know Sen. Rand Paul was a climate change skeptic? Or that Sen. Sanders spoke out against a resolution which would dismantle strong environmental rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
No matter how you vote next year I hope everyone uses what they learn in this course to take in consideration who and what they support. No matter how you hope I hope we represent ourselves, this class, and our generation well.
It is so important for society to have a voice in politics, but even more important for everyone to be informed and aware of each candidate and his/her objectives. I found an intriguing article that analyzes early childhood intelligence and future impact on voting. The article describes those with a higher intelligence in childhood to be more likely to vote Green Party and Liberal Democrats. I am not so sold that this means that one choice is better than another or that it is even a true correlation, but it is interesting to see how data can correlate such things. The article also states that higher childhood intelligence can be more likely to participate in rallies and demonstrations, sign petitions and show more involvement and interest in politics. This is what stands out to me because I believe that we have a right and should take advantage of that right to protest and show the government if we disagree. It is somewhat of an obligation to be informed of what policies are affecting us and if we agree or have suggestions on how and what to improve. But this all starts with being involved and smart about who we elect and what we want done.
Good post. I think a lot more data on what climate change is, and how rapidly it is effecting our planet would have been really helpful to this blog because, while it delivers a good message, there is little science behind it. There is one candidate who you should certainly not vote for if you are concerned with climate change, and that is Ted Cruz. Despite the fact that Cruz was the head of congress’ science and development, which is in charge of NASA and many other scientific functions of the government, yet he does not believe that climate change is an issue that we are facing. If he becomes president, funding will most likely be cut to these programs, and catastrophe could ensue.
this is so interesting and so true, but I wish it could have been longer and used more outside examples (maybe a specific teacher or student, or even a link to a short video on youtube) something to make it a little more interactive because I wanted to keep reading!